The Guardian’s fans’ network looks ahead to the new season: fresh talent, weak links, and who will be sacked first
Having finally got the title monkey off our back, and with much of the competition in a state of flux, there’s plenty of optimism. Obviously the target is for Arteta to sustain the same appetite and intensity to mount a credible defence. The big questions are whether we can reproduce the same resilience at the back with Saliba on the long-term missing list, and will the introduction of Guimarães be the catalyst for the sort of midfield chemistry we’ll need to carve open opponents who plan to park the bus?
Lauren Price identified as preferred next opponent
Claressa Shields completed a remarkable descent from heavyweight to middleweight, stopping Australia’s Kaye Scott in the sixth round to capture the WBA and WBC titles in a fight that went off early Sunday morning at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The five-division world champion and double Olympic gold medalist dominated her outclassed opponent from the opening bell before dropping Scott in the sixth and overwhelming her against the ropes after the action resumed. With the 42-year-old champion unable to defend herself from another sustained barrage, Scott’s corner threw several towels into the ring and the contest was waved off after 1min 38sec.
Bangladesh win Test match on Australian soil for first time
Cameron Green century not enough to stave off nine-wicket defeat
Bangladesh have handed Australia one of their most humiliating and crushing Test defeats in 149 years, despite a career-saving century by Cameron Green.
The visitors bowled Australia out for 284 in their second innings in Darwin and polished off the 57 runs required for victory for the loss of one wicket to secure their first Test win on Australian soil.
Cameron Green made them fight for it with a drought-breaking century, but Bangladesh ultimately romped to a historic maiden victory in Australia in the first Test in Darwin.
He is a five-time All-NBA player, six-time All-Star and the 2003 Rookie of the Year who averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds a game over 14 NBA seasons. He, along with fellow inductee Mike D'Antoni, was at the heart of the seven-seconds-or-less Phoenix Suns that changed the NBA game and put everyone on the path to the modern game.
At the podium Saturday night, he talked about how he started on the path to here.
“The first basketball I got was from my mom as a gift, and that basketball became my best friend, became my therapist.”@Amareisreal on the very first basketball he ever owned
The mystery around Paul Skenes' 2026 struggles just keeps growing. The reigning National League Cy Young winner will not start Sunday as scheduled. Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly said that his ace will get three extra days of rest and will start Wednesday instead.
Pittsburgh is not calling it an injury, but there is no denying that something is clearly off with Skenes this year.
He threw just 65 pitches over five innings Tuesday in Miami and came out anyway, having allowed two runs, one of them earned, on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts. His four-seam fastball averaged 95.7 miles per hour that night, the lowest single-game mark of his career and more than a full tick under his season average. Hitters put eight balls in play at 95 mph or harder and he got just four swings-and-misses.
The velocity has been a red flag. He is at 96.8 mph on the four-seamer, down from 98.2 last year and 98.8 as a rookie. Kelly said the bigger issue is command. The league is adjusting back, he said this week, and Skenes has to adjust with it.
Skenes had a 1.98 ERA in early May after back-to-back eight-inning shutout starts. In 16 starts since May 17 it is 5.00, with 10 home runs allowed in 84⅔ innings. (He gave up 11 home runs all of last season in 187⅔ innings.)
Pittsburgh is 3-13 in that stretch. His walk rate has climbed up to 6.8%.
Skenes, 24, has discounted the velocity questions all summer, and he did not argue with the early hook Tuesday. If he were the manager, he said, he would probably have made the same call.
The Pirates are 60-65, 6.5 games out of the last National League wild card and in last place in the National league Central. They were tied for a playoff spot four weeks ago. They don't get there without Skenes.
Aug 15, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford (36) reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Sacramento Athletics scored three runs.
After the Rangers missed out on delivering on an early RISP opportunity in the top of the first, an inning later someone named Henry Bolte, a person I’m not sure family could pick out of a lineup, hit a ball with two on that just barely glanced off the base of the left field foul pole at the A’s temporary minor league home.
Suddenly down 3-0, it would have been easy to think, “Here we go again.”
That feeling permeated as the lineup didn’t really get anything else going through the first handful of innings and, just when it seemed like the Rangers were headed for a fifth straight loss to the two worst teams in baseball, Nicky Lopez followed a Jake Burger double with an RBI single in the top of the fifth.
The Rangers have been desperate for anything from the bottom of the order and Lopez provided a run out of the nine spot. Maybe that helped lift the spell a little from this freefall that Texas has found itself in on the West Coast, or maybe pride finally gurgled up to put a purposeful taste in the mouths of the Rangers batters.
An inning later, down 3-1, the middle of the order was due and Brandon Nimmo, Corey Seager, and Wyatt Langford went double, RBI single, two-run home run to ambush the A’s and take a 4-3 lead in a matter of moments.
MacKenzie Gore allowed the three-run home run that put Texas in that early hole, so count that as his weekly Gore Inning. After that seemingly ruinous second inning, Gore eventually managed to make it through 5 2/3 innings with just the three runs allowed, just barely missing a quality start.
Thankfully, Chase Silseth cleaned up for Gore in the sixth and then Jakob Junis made his first appearance in over two weeks, a scoreless seventh inning. It was curious to see Junis come in in the seventh but that ultimately meant Jacob Latz was called upon for one of his patented two-inning saves.
The Rangers decided to wait all the way until the top of the ninth to score again and give Latz a little breathing room. Following an Evan Carter double, Jarred Kelenic came off the bench and provided the insurance with an pinch-hit RBI single.
Latz, who was pitching in just his fourth game all month, worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth but never allowed another baserunner. With his lead doubled by his second frame, Latz was able to comfortably claim his 24th save of the year to snap the losing skid.
Further good news, since Houston was walloped by Seattle earlier in the day, the Rangers gained a game in the standings where they now sit just two back of first place. Despite being two games below .500, the Rangers are also ahead of three other teams by a half game for the final American League Wild Card spot.
Weird year.
Player of the Game: The Rangers have really, really, really needed Langford to break out of his lengthy August slump and that finally came about tonight as he collected three hits including the big eventual game-winning two-run dong.
Up Next: The Rangers and A’s conclude this series in the road trip finale with LHP Cody Bradford next up for Texas opposite LHP Jacob Lopez for the Northern California squad.
First pitch Sunday’s finale is set for a more reasonable 3:05 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 15: Reid Detmers #48 of the Los Angeles Angels throws a pitch in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 15, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Michael Massey and Jac Caglianone powered the lineup last night. They did it again tonight, with the only two hits KC had – both singles – in a 1-0 loss to the Angels.
When your team falls by a score of 1-0, it would be easy to place the blame on the offense. But this was really Reid Detmers flashing some of that brilliance I wrote about before the game. When he’s on, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do, and baby, he was on tonight. Detmers struck out 11 over 8 scoreless innings and required only 92 pitches to do it. He didn’t walk anyone, and he allowed those two singles mentioned at the top. That’s it. The Angels asked closer Ben Joyce to finish it off and, wielding a fastball that easily tops 104 MPH, he did just that with a pair of strikeouts.
Randy Dobnak, known more for his sweeper, threw the Angels a healthy dose of changeups in his 5.2 innings tonight. He figured out early that the sweeper wasn’t working and the Angels could do nothing to the changeup, so he threw it more than any of his other pitches. Ultimately, he struck out six while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 scoreless innings. He had some good defense behind him, but Dobnak Time continues unabated as we inch ever closer to the end of the season.
Craig Kimbrel was tasked with escaping the sixth inning with two runners on and managed to do so when a deep flyball from Josh Lowe died just in front of the track, landing in Starling Marte’s glove. Kimbrel relied again on the marine layer as well as a fantastic play from Tyler Tolbert in the seventh.
Nate Pearson got the eighth and, unfortunately, his control issues from most of his career popped up again when he allowed a leadoff walk to Wade Meckler. Jose Siri pinch-ran for him and promptly stole second. Pearson got Mike Trout to pop out, but a groundball at 102.6 off the bat of Nolan Schanuel managed to deflect off of Caglianone’s glove into right, and that was all she wrote. Pearson recovered to get a strikeout and a groundout, but the winning run was already in.
Cags just missed a home run to center field in the first inning. According to Baseball Savant, it was barreled, the third-hardest hit ball in the game, and would have been a home run in 6/30 parks, including UNIQLO in Los Angeles. Jac’s single in the fourth was hit at 105.5, the hardest-hit ball for either team all night. When he stole second (his sixth of the season!) a few moments later, it was the first and only time a Royal made it past first all night. He did look pretty silly striking out in the seventh, but you can only do what you can do. The lack of offense meant he did not get a fourth at-bat.
That was the first time in five contests the Angels managed to beat the Royals. KC can’t have a .500 road trip anymore, but they could at least escape Anaheim of Los Angeles with a series victory if they can win tomorrow. Noah Cameron (4.45 ERA, 4.13 SIERA) will try to rebound from the off-kilter start in LA. The Angels will counter with a right-hander, thankfully, rookie Ryan Johnson (6.71 ERA, 5.17 SIERA). The game is the Royals’ last one on the West Coast this year and will start at 3:07 PM Central time.
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 29: AJ Smith-Shawver #32 of the Atlanta Braves enters the dugout prior to the game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Wednesday, July 29, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Michael Urakami/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Danny Young this season has an ERA over 8, a FIP over 7, and an xFIP over 6. He has at times in his 5 season, 73.0 inning major league career been an acceptable major league reliever and even has acceptable career numbers over that time, but he has simply not given the Braves a compelling reason to keep him on their roster this year. Meanwhile, the Braves are reportedly contemplating how to bring AJ Smith-Shawver onto the roster. My proposal is to simply get rid of Danny Young, perhaps bring up a stopgap arm for a few days and then have AJ replace Grant Holmes in the rotation. Holmes can be a good arm out of the bullpen and while he has done admirably to perform the job of a back end rotation starter, he can impact the Braves the best for the remainder of this season out of the bullpen.
It's officially another season, another prospects ranking for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In years past, this has been a bit easier of an exercise, as there used to be a more clear-cut line between prospects with NHL upside and longshots. However, because of the work that general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and his staff have put in during the last several years, the line is blurring a whole lot more - and there is a substantially higher volume of talent in the system.
This time around, making a top-20 list was challenging. So, a few criteria were put into place: To make our list, prospects must be under the age of 26 and have played less than 50 NHL games. This excludes names such as Ben Kindel, Filip Hallander, Oliver Okuliar, and Alexander Alexeyev.
Defenseman Tomas Galvas came in at No. 11 on our list, as his offensive upside has top-four potential. As we transition into the top-10 on our list, we look at a center whose bad injury luck is, really, the only reason he hasn't found himself in a more full-time NHL role up to this point.
Yes, this is a different order from the one shared on our episode of the Pucks N'at Podcast last week. Putting out a rankings list of Penguins' prospects is no easy task nowadays, and sometimes, minds are changed after more thought.
So, here, we begin our top-10 this year with center prospect Tristan Broz.
It has been a trying two years for Broz, who was selected 58th overall by the Penguins in 2021. In the midst of a solid 2024-25 campaign, Broz contracted mononucleosis and missed nearly two months of action, with the long recovery process not doing him any favors, either. Last season, two different injuries limited him to 47 AHL games last year and stunted any NHL call-up opportunities.
If Broz and the Penguins had it their way the past two years, the 23-year-old would already have a much more sizable NHL sample rather than just one game, which came on Nov. 26, 2025 against the Buffalo Sabres. So far, it hasn't panned out that way.
But if Broz manages to remain healthy this season, he could quickly become a regular part of the NHL lineup, and he should be one of the prospects vying for a roster spot during training camp this season.
During the 2025-26 AHL regular season - despite all the missed time - Broz registered 16 goals and 39 points. He also went on to be WBS's leading scorer in the Calder Cup Playoffs with three goals and 11 points im 15 playoff games.
Broz is excellent on the penalty kill. He's effective on the power play. He's very conscientious, coordinated, and clean defensively. He can score goals and has a nice release. He can create. He can distribute. Really, there's not much Broz can't do, and his true all-around, two-way skillset makes him someone who should, theoretically, have a pretty high floor.
Of course, the question with Broz, like many young players transitioning full-time into the NHL, is whether or not he can distribute, create, score, and defend at NHL speed. He seems well-adjusted in terms of his transition to every level of hockey so far - including from the NCAA with the University of Denver to the AHL - but the NHL is a completely different beast.
But Broz has a head on his shoulders, and his cerebral play should serve him well. He may not have the highest ceiling of anyone in the system, but he's a pretty sure bet to be a full-time NHL player at worst.
Honestly, it was a tough decision to place him as low as he is on this list because he has the tools and the talent to be an effective NHL third-line center. He played as a winger in college, and he's still learning a lot at the center position. And, even if he doesn't pan out as a full-time NHL center, playing wing should open up even more offensive opportunity for him. But the fact that he's as injury-prone as he is brought him down a few notches.
So, what's next for Broz? Well, given that he turns 24 this season, he's at the point where he needs to make the most of his NHL minutes, even if some of that time has been robbed by injury already. If and when he is given an opportunity this season, look for Broz to make a whole lot of the right plays and the right reads and for him to be a responsible, reliable player in all three zones.
And, hey, even if the NHL roster space is a crowded place right now, never say never during training camp. Broz was probably good enough to make the team out of camp last season, so it's safe to assume he's going to make roster decisions in September very tough for the Penguins yet again.
It was fitting that this was the summer in which Amar’e Stoudemire became a Hall of Famer.
For a generation of younger fans, he was the first star who made the Knicks relevant again after years of anguish. He was officially inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Springfield, Mass., just more than two months after the Knicks won the championship.
At the moment, the Knicks are as relevant as ever. In many ways, the championship and Stoudemire’s induction completed the long-term journey that he started.
“New York, the Garden, there’s nothing like it,” Stoudemire said in his speech. “When you hear MVP chants every night, they’re chanting your name, the arena is rocking, New York is the No. 1 place to play. And I know that as a player. But before I got there, no one else wanted to go to New York. So that’s why I was like, ‘The Knicks are back, and we’re gonna do this.’ It was good to see those guys win the championship this year.”
As a 27-year-old superstar in his prime, Stoudemire signed with the Knicks in 2010 — after the Knicks had just gone 29-53. That same offseason, LeBron James and Chris Bosh went to the Heat.
At the time, stars were avoiding the Knicks and their dysfunction. But Stoudemire, after emerging as one of the league’s best bigs with the Suns, embraced it.
“You walked into the Garden when nobody else would,” Carmelo Anthony said in a tribute video posted by the Knicks, “and told the whole league the Knicks was back.”
Amar’e Stoudemire speaks at his Hall of Fame induction speech on Aug. 15, 2026 in Springfield, Mass. Getty Images
Stoudemire spent four-plus seasons with the Knicks, who made the playoffs his first three seasons with the team — after the franchise had reached the postseason just twice the previous 10 years. During his first year with the team, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team and set a franchise record by scoring 30 or more points in nine straight games.
The Knicks traded for Anthony midway through Stoudemire’s first season with the team. The two led the Knicks to the second round in the 2012-13 season, but never quite reached the massive expectations for the duo. Stoudemire was plagued by knee injuries, which cut his prime short.
Stoudemire was a six-time All-Star and rookie of the year. He made All-NBA First Team once and the Second Team four times.
Amar’e Stoudemire played four-plus seasons for the Knicks. REUTERS
There was another lull for the franchise after Stoudemire and Anthony’s Knicks tenures were over, but they are now the place to be for stars.
“I wanted to bring players to New York to experience what I experienced in the city,” Stoudemire said. “We were able to bring in Carmelo and I think the energy of having me there showed the rest of the league, hey, New York can be a destination place.”
It’s poetic that Stoudemire was enshrined in the same class as Mike D’Antoni, who coached him with both the Suns and Knicks.
Amar’e Stoudemire (L.) and Carmelo Anthony NBAE via Getty Images
D’Antoni spent four seasons with the Knicks, leading them to a playoff berth in 2010-11 — their first since 2003-04.
“New York’s a special place,” D’Antoni said Saturday.
Doc Rivers, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw, Mark Few and Joey Crawford were the other inductees in this year’s class.
As the Knicks continue to celebrate their championship, two important figures who helped put them back on the map are now enshrined in immortality.
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 15: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Arizona Diamondbacks looks on after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning during the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Saturday, August 15, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brett Davis/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
I hope you all will forgive me for spending a portion of my Saturday mornings sorting through various somewhat bleak baseball things in preparation for the coming recap. For instance, today I found myself roaming around looking at the recent game logs for Harrison Grant Holmes and comparing them those of Eduardo Rodriguez (Holmes had a better run recently, at least until today), and then looking at how the Braves as a team hit versus left-handed pitching (10th in the majors, as opposed to 8th vs. right-handers). The Diamondbacks, incidentally, are 2nd in the majors facing lefties, at least in terms of OPS, which was nice to see. But Grant Holmes is not a lefty, so I scrolled down to see how we do against righties, and discovered the rather depressing fact that we rank 29th in the majors in OPS against right-handed pitching. I tend to try to look for something interesting that I could touch on and organize my thinking around, in case a Saturday game goes badly for us, as it feels like they often do.
Anyway. As it turns out, I didn’t really need to, though it certainly didn’t look like it was going to be that way in the early going. Holmes caught leadoff man Lars Nootbaar looking to start off the game, then got Corbin Carroll to pop out on the infield and Geraldo Perdomo to strike out swinging on three pitches to make short work of the Snakes in the top of the first. Everyone’s favorite hologram then came on for the bottom of the frame and gave up hits to the first three batters he faced: a home run to absolutely straightaway center field to Ronald Acuña, Jr., followed by a double to Drake Baldwin and a maddening bloop single just behind shortstop that fell in and advanced Baldwin to third. ERod finally recorded his first out on an Ozzie Albies pop fly to shallow right, but Baldwin crossed the plate on a grounder to second. That wound up being all the damage done, but we were already in a hole and Rodriguez had already thrown 24 pitches. 2-0 Atlanta
Given our dismal 0 for 14 performance last night with runners in scoring position, and given how easily Holmes had disposed of the top of our lineup in the top of the first, it seemed like we were in a very deep hole. But the bottom two thirds of the lineup, perhaps shamed by yesterday’s aforementioned dismal performance, were having none of it today. Gabriel Moreno drewa five-pitch walk to lead things off, and was promptly advanced to third by a Max Kepler double into the alley in right center that rolled to the wall. Nolan Arenado grounded out slowly to third, allowing Moreno to score. Then Tim Tawa grounded a single to left, driving in Kepler and tying things back up. But we weren’t done! Ildemaro Vargas, starting at second today due to Ketel Marte’s gimpy knee, rolled over to second for the second out, but then Ryan Waldschmidt hit an opposite field liner to right that dropped for a single and scored Tawa from second. 3-2 DBACKS
And it was basically off to the races after that. ERod surrendered a leadoff double to Atlanta left fielder Lane Thomas to start the bottom of the second, but then sat down the next three batters to leave Thomas stranded there and put up a very reassuring zero. Corbin Carroll led off the top of the third with a double to right. Perdomo launched a fly ball to deep center that allowed Corbin to tag and take third. Moreno then doubled off the wall in right center, plating Carroll. Kepler popped out the infield, which was unfortunate and frustrating, marking as it did the second out of the inning, but Nolan Arenado came to the plate for the second time in two innings and launched the third pitch he saw from Holmes into the seats in left center field:
Tim Tawa flied out to end things, but Nolan’s 29th of the season had extended the lead substantially. 6-2 DBACKS
Things kind of cooled down after that for both teams, at least for awhile. Holmes walked Nootbaar and Carroll on five pitches apiece with two outs in the top of the fourth, which earned him an early end to his night, but the Braves bullpen got involved and put up three straight zeros in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. Eduardo Rodriguez, however, had settled down nicely, and was doing the same. He retired Altanta in order in the third and fourth, pitched around a two-out Acuña single that just trickled in and out of the glove of a diving Perdomo, and then recorded a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth to end his night on a very satisfactory note.
But our offense still wasn’t done. In fact, Arenado himself wasn’t done. He stepped to the plate with two outs in the seventh against Atlanta lefty Brent Suter and launched his 20th home run of the year to pretty much the same place that he’d deposited his 19th:
The game was mostly in the bag at this point, with Jonathan Loaisiga and Kevin Ginkel each pitching a pristine inning in relief, while the Braves relievers continued to toil along haplessly. Corbin Carroll tripled with off the wall in right with two outs in the eighth, but wasn’t able to score. In the top of the ninth, Moreno singled to lead things off, Arenado drew a one-out walk, and then with two outs Ildemaro Vargas, who’d been quiet all evening up to this point, sent a third souvenir over the wall in left to pad things a little more. 10-2 DBACKS
With an eight run lead, Torey Lovullo opted to go with Philip Abner, an admittedly low-leverage arm, out of the bullpen for the final three outs, and Abner got it done, though he did cough up one more run thanks to a Matt Olson leadoff double and then a couple of infield groundouts that allowed Olson to come around and score. But no harm done, and we had a very emphatic second win of the series! 10-3 DBACKS
Heroes: Nolan Arenado (4 AB, 2 H, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, 1 BB, +13% WPA), Cabriel Moreno (4 AB, 3 H, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, +11% WPA) Zeros: None! Lars Nootbaar, Geraldo Perdomo, and Ildemaro Vargas each contributed negative WPA, but at ultimately negligible levels. Everyone played real good ball tonight! Good job, Snakes!
It wound up being a nice and well-populated Gameday Thread tonight, with 289 comments at time of writing. Our Fearless Leader got the most rec’s for his observation regarding how helpful it might be for tomorrow to chew through some more of Atlanta’s bullpen, but I’m giving today’s Comment of the Game to piratedan for this early comment that aptly captures the whiplash many of us felt seeing the offense go off like this less than 24 hours after last night’s Dismal Performance (TM):
Didn’t have this in my bingo card going into last night’s game, but I hope you can join us tomorrow as we go for the three-game sweep against the runaway leaders in the NL East! Michael Soroka goes for us, Bryce Elder goes for Atlanta. Elder got lit up last time out with 7 earned runs allowed to the lowly Mets on August 10, so with any luck we can make his month of August even worse. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35 AZ time, TheRealRamona will have the guest recap, so we hope to see you with all of your favorite morning baseball snacks tomorrow as we go for the sweep!
As always, thanks for reading, and as always, go Diamondbacks!
“It’s fantastic,” Roberts said. “I hope that we can give Jacob as much credit and publicity as possible. He’s a great kid and he’s great for the game. What he did today, what they see every time he pitches, you just don’t see it. Guys like him, and obviously guys like Shohei, the game’s in a great spot.”
As Shohei Ohtani’s manager, Dave Roberts knows how much a singular talent can mean to baseball. CHRIS TORRES/EPA/ShutterstockRoberts described Milwaukee Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski in such terms following the Dodgers’ 4-1 loss on Saturday. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Roberts was awestruck by how Misiorowki attacked Ohtani in his six-pitch at-bat in the first inning, which resulted in a popup to third base.
Misiowowki threw him only fastballs.
The pitch velocities that flashed on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard: 104, 104, 104, 103, 104, 104.
“I’ve never seen the first [three] pitches of a game 104,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers’ first hit against the Cy Young Award frontrunner came in the third inning when Alex Call reached base on an infield single. Call scored on a triple by Ohtani.
Behind by a 4-1 margin, the Dodgers loaded the bases in the fifth inning, only for Misiorowski to get out of the jam by striking out Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in succession.
“I’ve never seen the first [three] pitches of a game 104,” Roberts said. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Considering what the Dodgers were up against, Roberts considered it a minor victory to be able to force Misiorowski out of the game after six innings. The Dodgers collected five hits and a walk against Misiorowski, who struck out six batters. Misiorowsk improved his record to 12-5 and lowered his earned-run average to 1.75.
“I thought we did a nice job in the sense of shortening up, competing, getting him out in the sixth inning,” Roberts said.
In doing so, the Dodgers were able to force left-hander Aaron Ashby to pitch two innings in relief, which will likely make him unavailable for the series finale on Sunday.
Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
